Sheila Dow

Sheila Dow is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Stirling and co-Convener of SCEME. She has worked previously as an economist with the Bank of England and the Government of Manitoba and as an advisor on monetary policy to the UK Treasury Select Committee. She has published in the areas of methodology, the history of economic thought (especially Hume, Smith and Keynes), money and banking and regional finance. Recent books include Economic Methodology: An Inquiry, OUP, 2002, and A History of Scottish Economic Thought, Routledge, 2006, co-edited, with Alexander Dow. Her new book, Foundations for New Economic Thinking: a collection of essays, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in spring 2012.

Decomposition by such an important category as gender helps us understand the economy at the macro level, and design macroeconomic policy, better. It also provides the foundation for advocating equal gender rights and outcomes. But, where gendered policy issues arise in mainstream macroeconomics (income maldistribution, labour market composition, etc.) the subject matter is narrowed by its microfoundations, by focusing on GDP growth and on suboptimal outcomes being explained by market imperfections.

Widespread criticism of elites and their ‘experts ’ raises questions about how economists should perceive their role, and what role societies should give them. We invited four scholars to start an online conversation by sharing their perspectives

Widespread criticism of elites and their ‘experts ’ raises questions about how economists should perceive their role, and what role societies should give them. We invited four scholars to start an online conversation by sharing their perspectives